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Sale statement: The signing of ex-Ireland full-back Will Addison

Ulster's Will Addison is on the move back to Sale (Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Gallagher Premiership semi-finalists Sale have confirmed their signing of Will Addison, the former Ireland international, from Ulster.

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It was in mid-February when RugbyPass exclusively reported that the Sharks were poised to snap up their ex-full-back, who swapped Manchester for Belfast in the summer of 2018.

Addison went on to be capped four times by Ireland but with Ulster opting not to offer a new contract, he will now return to Sale on a one-year deal.

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Antoine Dupont is the GREATEST rugby player EVER – Leinster vs Toulouse reaction

Jim Hamilton and Bernard Jackman react to Toulouse beating Leinster in the final of the Investec Champions Cup and discuss Antoine Dupont who was named player of the match.

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Antoine Dupont is the GREATEST rugby player EVER – Leinster vs Toulouse reaction

Jim Hamilton and Bernard Jackman react to Toulouse beating Leinster in the final of the Investec Champions Cup and discuss Antoine Dupont who was named player of the match.

A club website statement read: “Sale have agreed a deal to re-sign former captain Will Addison almost six years after the versatile back left to join Ulster.

“The 31-year-old, who can play centre, on the wing, or full-back, has signed a one-year deal with an option for a further year to re-join Sharks at the end of the current season. Cumbrian Will came through the Sharks academy and played more than 100 games for the club in his first stint.

Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Bath
31 - 23
Full-time
Sale
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“He was named Sharks captain ahead of the 2017/18 season but then left in June 2018 to follow his dream of playing international rugby for Ireland.

“A series of serious injuries since have restricted him to just four Test appearances in the famous green shirt but now fit again, he has made 16 appearances this season for Ulster including two in the Champions Cup.”

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Addison said: “It was really tough to leave Sale, but I did it for the right reasons and I have loved my time in Ulster. I played international rugby for Ireland and that was a huge dream of mine.

“But I have remained a big Sale supporter and I have loved watching the club going from strength to strength in the last couple of years.

“Before I left, Simon Orange told me the club was going places and he was right. To see the crowds in the stadium grow and how much emphasis the club have put on building a connection with the north has been fantastic.

“My best friends are still at Sale – Tommy Taylor was my best man and Josh Beaumont was an usher, and I came through the academy with guys like Ross Harrison, Si McIntyre and Sam James. I have also got a young baby and now is the right time for us as a family to move back.

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“But I wouldn’t move if I didn’t feel like we had a chance of winning something. There are so many brilliant young players here and I can’t wait to play with them and try and help them develop as much as I can.”

Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson added: “Will has a big reputation to live up to because reports on his ability and the kind of bloke he was when he was here before reached me before I watched him and spoke to him.

“Most of the staff here have already worked with him, and they tell me he is one of the most gifted players they have worked with and one of the best people they have worked with. That is reason enough to open the doors again and bring him back into the fold.

“On top of that, he is now proving himself to be robust fitness-wise, and he is playing some fantastic rugby, so him wanting to come home is brilliant. He is close friends with guys like Tommy Taylor, Josh Beaumont, and Ross Harrison so we know he will fit in perfectly.

“But it’s not just a fairytale. He wants to come here because of what we are building and what he thinks he can add. It’s great for us to get him and we’re excited to see him play in any of the positions he can play.”

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J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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